Illinois state Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur) hopes the financial burden of ringing in 2020 remains fresh in the minds of voters come election season.
“When the time comes, I just hope they remember who stood up for them and tried to prevent the limit by standing up for their best interest," Caulkins told the Chambana Sun. "There are a new batch of laws about to come their way and a whole handful of them involve new taxes.”
In all, more than 250 new laws are set to officially take effect at the start of the New Year, and Caulkins views many of them as bad news for the state's middle-class and working families.
Illinois state Rep. Dan Caulkins (R-Decatur)
“They’re the ones most hurt by all the rising taxes and the higher fees,” he said.
Caulkins says the bitter pill will be made even harder to swallow when you consider that Gov. J.B. Pritzker piloted into office at least partly fueled by a vow that he would not raise taxes on the middle class.
“That’s not the reality,” Caulkins said. “Look at increases on things like driver’s licenses, gas prices and a whole host of other things. They all have a profound and negative impact on the working people of this state.”
Caulkins says one tax that epitomizes everything he’s saying is the tax hike on Uber and Lyft rides in the downtown Chicago area, where the tax is set to more than triple to a full $3 per ride.
“You think that doesn’t stand to have an effect on that business?” he asked. “This is nothing more than a backdoor effort to stand up for the entire taxicab lobbyists that are big-money contributors in the world of politics. It’s an attempt to push those with an entrepreneurial spirit out of the market. It’s anti-free-enterprise.”
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